Voices........................................14
Voices of Oak Ridge
We the People............................15
Clark and Monica Eckert
Mitch Rouse
Uncommon Knowledge.............16
Y-12 and Building 9731
Star Power
Small Talk.................................18
An Early Start on Excellence
A Chance to Play
Crossing Guard Mr. Miller

20

CommunityLink.com

1 800-455-5600

production
VP of production operations
Amanda White
director of publication design
Kelly Friederich

ABOUT This book is published by CommunityLink
and distributed through the Oak Ridge Chamber of
Commerce. For advertising information or
questions or comments about this book, contact
CommunityLink at 800-455-5600 or by e-mail at
info@CommunityLink.com.

hen my family moved to the rolling hills of Oak Ridge,
Tennessee, from Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, almost
four years ago, we had many questions regarding what
to expect. We hoped that we would find a school system for our
children that we would be pleased with, that we would find plenty
of leisure activities, that we would find a home and neighborhood
where we would be comfortable, and that we would make some
good friends. I’m sure as you consider moving here, you have
some of these same questions as well.
The reality is that all of our questions have been answered and
our experience has far exceeded our expectations. Oak Ridge is an
extraordinary place to live. Our children attend award-winning
schools in the city and will move on to Oak Ridge High School,
which was just named the highest ranking public school in East
Tennessee in Newsweek’s recent list of 1,600 Top High Schools in
America. We couldn’t be happier with the education our kids are
receiving.
Our children are involved in all kinds of extracurricular
activities: Our son plays soccer for Soccer Club of Oak Ridge (“SCOR”) and participates in chess club at his elementary school; our daughter
plays Girls Inc. basketball; both of our kids have participated in the fourth grade strings program offered by the elementary schools in the
city … the list goes on and on. There is truly never a dull moment, and we’re thankful to have so many opportunities to choose from.
Our house and neighborhood are wonderful. There are so many great people who go beyond just being neighbors and are our friends.
We enjoy walking and spending time visiting with people in the evenings while our kids ride their bikes or shoot some hoops with the
other children in the neighborhood. On weekends, I routinely jog down by the lake near our home and frequently have to dodge the rowing
participants attending the regatta that may be going on.
Another thing we were happy to discover about this town is that cultural opportunities are available for all ages here. Oak Ridge has an
outstanding community playhouse, its own symphony, a community band, its own ballet, and an art center.
Oak Ridge really does have something to offer to everyone. I hope that you will consider making this your home. I think you’ll find that it’s
a wonderful place to live.
Sincerely,
Mike Belbeck
President and CAO, Methodist Medical Center of Oak Ridge

www.oakridgechamber.org 3

The Sum of

Cover Story

Oak Ridge’s Unique and Distinct Neighborhoods Join Together to

O

nce known as “the Secret City” for
its role in the top-secret Manhattan
Project, Oak Ridge, Tennessee, is
now a city focused on home and family,
with a nationally ranked school system, a
vibrant cultural arts community, worldrenowned sporting venues, scenic vistas,
beautiful residential communities, and
plentiful parks and greenways. From a

That warmth has shaped residential
planning as well. Oak Ridge has a tradition
of weaving into the fabric of its community
tight-knit, distinct residential areas. In
the early 1940s, each neighborhood was
designed to be an independent community,
with its own schools, barbershops, grocery
stores, and so on.
Oak Ridge’s neighborhoods often possess
distinctive character and
appeal. For one, the Woodland
neighborhood is recognizable
for its unique flattop homes,
pre-fab homes that were
quickly constructed by the
U.S. government during World
War II to help house the many
families who had come to
work as part of the Manhattan
Project. The houses feature
a distinctive straight, flat
roof and are such an iconic
part of Oak Ridge history that the American
Museum of Science and Energy purchased
one to restore and display, receiving a 2010
Historic Preservation Award for the effort.
Many homes in the Woodland neighborhood
have been well maintained to keep their
historic look.

}

This tradition of building
neighborhoods, rather
than just clusters of
houses, has garnered
renewed interest today.
closed and secret city to an open and
welcoming community of neighborhoods,
Oak Ridge has grown into a top-notch place
to live, work, and play. Time and again,
sources cite the community’s warmth as the
tie that has bound the city’s residents to
their home and each other.
4 RIDGES | Summer ’11

The warmth of the communities extends
to their amenities. The East and West
Village areas are known for their extremely
nice parks, both of which welcome families
and children to play each year.
This tradition of building neighborhoods,
rather than just clusters of houses, has
garnered renewed interest today. Parker
Hardy, president of the Oak Ridge Chamber
of Commerce, says the current national
trend in residential planning hearkens back
to a more traditional look and feel, with
features like front porches and communitybuilding amenities. Oak Ridge, founded and
planned with this principle, continues to
embrace this movement.
“Some of our new residential
developments are deliberately designed to
build community,” said Hardy. “Groves Park
Commons, Rarity Ridge, Willow Place and
Crossroads at Wolf Creek are among the
newer developments.”
For new residents to Oak Ridge looking
to rent, the community offers numerous
options for apartment and condo living
including Centennial Bluff, Centennial
Village Apartments and Bristol Park, new
developments that offer outstanding

Its Parts

Make a Great Community for Families

amenities and offer easy access to schools,
shopping and churches.
Oak Ridge’s unique geography plays a
role in building neighborhoods and offers
residents a choice of surroundings. Much of
the distinctive appeal of each community
comes from the natural landscape. Some
neighborhoods are on hills, while others are
in a valley setting.
No matter the neighborhood, the
neighbors are Oak Ridge’s biggest strength.
The city’s warm and welcoming reputation
is the primary factor that’s drawing new
residents to the community. Gerald Boyd,
recently retired manager for the Department
of Energy-Oak Ridge Operations Office, says
he experienced Oak Ridgers’ warm welcome
even before moving to the area.
“Previously, I’d lived in several different
places, but Oak Ridge was unique,” he
said. “Even before our move here, people
from Oak Ridge contacted me to get me
introduced to the community: schools,
churches, and so on. Then, once we got
here, the community rallied around us and
helped us get to know the kinds of things
we might want to participate in.”
Ted Sherry, manager of the Y-12 site
office for the National Nuclear Security

Cover Story

By David Ballard

Administration echoes the sentiment about
the warmth of the people.
“There is something to be said about
Southern hospitality,” Sherry said. “I’ve
lived in many other areas where your
community is just where your house is
located. That’s not so in Oak Ridge. There
have been a lot of draws for me to get
involved here because of all the influences
that support family involvement.”
As a parent, Sherry adds that the Oak
Ridge school system played a major role in
his final decision to move here as well.
“I moved here from New Mexico, and
the Oak Ridge school system was the
deciding factor. I’ve been absolutely ecstatic
about the school program ever since.”
For more information about residential
options in Oak Ridge call the Oak Ridge
Chamber of Commerce at 865-483-1321 or
visit www.oakridgechamber.org.

www.oakridgechamber.org 5

Here & Now

t
u
o
t
o
Sho Smokies
in the

am
e
T
ge nors
d
i
R
Oak Top Ho
s
Take curity
in Se etition
p
Com

By Jennifer Bull

W

SI-Oak Ridge took first place in the Department of Energy’s
annual Security Protection Officer Team Competition,
held at Central Training Facility in Oak Ridge in 2010. The team
scored 904.673 out of a possible 1,000 points during the fourday competition — a competition that is comprised of tactical,
physical, and skills-oriented firearms competitions.
“On behalf of the entire WSI-Oak Ridge Team, we are so proud
of our SPOTC Team on their accomplishments, and we look
forward to holding the national champion title for the coming
year,” said WSI-Oak Ridge General Manager Lee Brooks. “This win
is not only a notable achievement for our company, but for the
entire Oak Ridge community.”
WSI-Oak Ridge’s winning team is comprised of team leader Neal
Wolfenbarger, Brad Carter, Chuck Rushefski, Michael Sprain, Richie
Wright, Colt Jennings, and coaches Lynn Bales and Kirt Phillippi.
“I am incredibly proud of how our team performed during these
four days of competition,” said Lee Brooks, senior vice president
and general manager for WSI-Oak Ridge. “This competition tested
these teams’ tactical skills, shooting skills, and teamwork —
it really called for a show of everything they had. I knew the
competition would be tough, because this is the best of the best in
armed security police officers, so I couldn’t be more pleased with
the WSI-Oak Ridge team’s success.”
This is the second time Oak Ridge has hosted the Shootout in
the Smokies, the first being in 2002. The Central Training Facility
is owned by the Department of Energy (DOE), National Nuclear
Security Administration (NNSA).
6 RIDGES | Summer ’11

ORNL Federal
Credit Union
Commits to Expansion
New Facilities Will House
Current and New Staff
By Jennifer Bull

I

n July, ORNL Federal Credit Union bought 38 acres of property
for a large expansion. A full-service financial institution, ORNL
FCU has been located in the Oak Ridge area since 1948.
“We’re everything a person could want as far as consumer loans,
commercial loans, real estate — we do it all,” said Taylor Scott,
senior vice president of ORNL Federal Credit Union. “We currently
have about 450 employees, we cover 16 counties in east Tennessee,
and we currently have 42 branch locations. Back in 1948 we served
strictly the employees of the lab. We now have a community charter
where we can serve members who are living and working anywhere
in a six-county area. With all that growth, we have need for this new
corporate center.”
The new location will house 300 employees, with a possible 100
additional employees to be added over the next 10–12 years after
the expansion is completed. Currently ORNL Federal Credit Union
has 22 support departments; all but two of them will be located in
the new building.
“Right now, we have our offices for our support departments
spread over six different locations in two counties, and this would
bring all those folks together in one spot,” Scott said.
Scott anticipates construction beginning in 2011. The main office
in Oak Ridge will remain after the expansion, but most of the other
offices will be moved to the new location.

Here & Now

Music in the Park
Summer Concert Series a Sound Success

By Jennifer Bull

O

ak Ridge offers residents and the outlying
community an opportunity to enjoy
quality concerts for the perfect price:
free. Secret City Sounds is a wonderful summer
concert series presented by the Arts Council of
Oak Ridge and paid for by the city of Oak Ridge.
So far, it has been a resounding success.
“The concerts are free, everybody’s welcome.
We try to present a variety of music, different
genres of music,” said Joye Montgomery,
executive director of the Arts Council. “We had
R&B, rock and roll, folk, country, bluegrass,
anything — just so there is a variety of music.”
The setting and extras make it a great outing
for all ages.
“It’s in a park setting, and there’s a
playground. We bring in a hot dog vendor
and ice cream, and there are beer and soft
drinks, also,” Montgomery noted. “Everybody’s
invited to come and bring their chairs and their
blankets and their friends and their families.
Come and have a good time and listen to some
music in the park.”
The concerts take place on the Pavilion Stage
in Bissell Park every two weeks in May, July, and
August. June is skipped because of the Secret
City Festival.
Now in its third year, Secret City Sounds is
drawing people from not just the Oak Ridge area.
“We draw not only Oak Ridgers, but we also
draw people from the area because we try to pick
regional bands who have played all around this
area,” Montgomery said. “The variety of people
that we can bring in and the variety of talent
amazes me. It’s a lovely summer evening with
good music that you get to spend with friends.
It’s a really good time.”
www.oakridgechamber.org 7

Around Town

The Oak
Ridge –

Naka-shi
Student
Exchange
20 Years of “Peace Through People”

T

By Jay Nehrkorn

hanks to a cooperative effort among
the Oak Ridge Sister City Support
Organization, city government, and
Oak Ridge Schools, students and families from
Oak Ridge and Naka-shi, Japan, have enjoyed
a relationship of cultural sharing that now
spans a generation. Connected as partners
within the Sister Cities International program,
the two cities are engaged in a student
exchange program that has developed crosscultural friendships that might have seemed
unimaginable just three generations ago.
“This is the 20th anniversary of our Sister
Cities relationship with Naka-shi, and other
than two years that were compromised by
H1N1 and the SARS epidemic, we’ve continued
to do these middle school exchanges since the
inception of the partnership,” said Kenneth
Luckmann of Oak Ridge’s Sister City Support
Organization.
In 2010, a delegation of 16 students
and adults representing Oak Ridge and the
Jefferson and Robertsville middle schools
visited Naka-shi in July, followed in August
by a delegation from Naka-shi coming to Oak
Ridge. In both cases, the trips included visits

to the host city’s schools and educational
attractions, as well as celebrations marking the
20th year of the partnership.
While the trips are educational, the
greatest benefit for the delegates is the cultural
understanding and bond of friendship formed
between themselves and the host families they
stay with.
“At first I was worried about the home-stay,
but my host, Abbie, was a wonderful host,”
commented Japanese educator Kudo Kyoko. “I
felt so at home and I could relax as I would at my
own home. She showed me many places so I was
able to have many experiences I could never have
in Japan.”

}

“It’s a program that hopefully
lets them take home the
message that we’re different
but also the same in a lot
of ways, and that the goal
of everyone ought to be
friendship and peace.”

You Can’t Top Perfection

As the 2009–10 school year headed into the home
stretch last spring, three Oak Ridge High School students
achieved something that can be matched, but can never
be topped. Students Carlos del-Castillo-Negrete, Leon
Zhang, and Mattie Lloyd each received a perfect score of
36 on their ACT test. An impressive 16 percent of last
year’s ORHS juniors scored 30 or higher on the statemandated test. Well done, Class of 2011!
8 RIDGES | Summer ’11

During the visits the delegates sometimes
encounter exhibits related to the happenings
of World War II, but as they stand side-by-side
with their new friends, it becomes clear that
this is a new day.
“I’m sure the kids understand that at a
period in history our countries were somewhat
less than friendly towards each other, but the
opportunity to stay with Japanese families,
and the opportunities for the Japanese kids to
spend time with American families, that’s the
key to the success here,” Luckmann explained.
“These kids are making friends in a program
whose motto is ‘peace through people.’ It’s a
program that hopefully lets them take home
the message that we’re different but also the
same in a lot of ways, and that the goal of
everyone ought to be friendship and peace.”

fter nearly a year of planning, dreaming, and studying
traffic patterns, Oak Ridge now has a master plan for
bicycle and pedestrian pathways throughout the city.
The master plan will help the city compete for grants that
provide funding to eco-friendly construction projects.
“There is money available, but you must be implementing
a plan, and not just saying, ‘Wow, we’d like a bike path here,’”
said Kathryn Baldwin, community development director for
Oak Ridge. “There must be a transportation component to
it, and not just recreation. The goal is to supplant the need
for that automobile trip to school or work.”
Oak Ridge city officials began studying the issue of
bicycle and pedestrian facilities in 2009, mapping out the
city’s “traffic generators.” These are the large businesses,
schools, and retail centers that draw the greatest number of
cars each day.
“They drew circles around all the traffic generators and
saw where they overlapped,” said Baldwin. “If you want the
biggest bang for your buck, you want to serve an area with
multiple needs.”
Once the plan is finished it must be approved by the Oak
Ridge City Council before it can be submitted to the Federal
Highway Administration and other grant-offering agencies.
The FHA offers $6 million yearly to cities that construct bike
paths and other facilities to improve air quality.
“We already have people who really do bike to work
here,” said Baldwin. “One way to attract young people and
encourage them to make this town their home is to offer
great bicycle and pedestrian facilities.”

he sweet fragrance of lavender welcomes visitors to
Historic Jackson Square’s Annual Lavender Festival in
June. The free festival began in 1999 and is now one of
the best herb fairs in the Southeast.
In addition to herbal plants, visitors find vendors offering
jewelry, aromatherapy, gardening, herbal cooking, crafts, and
live music, including folk, traditional, and bluegrass. Varied
booths and restaurants in Jackson Square also offer tasty
breakfast and lunch items.
A special feature is the Herb Luncheon, held on the Friday
before the festival. Set up under a large tent, the outdoor
luncheon features a delicious meal with well-known speakers
such as Jeff Ross, garden manager at Blackberry Farm in
Walland, Tenn.
One of the favorite festival booths is sponsored by Erin’s
Meadow Herb Farm. Owner Kathy Mihalzo said, “Among the
thousands of herbs offered for planting, visitors will find
12 varieties of lavender. The farm’s extensive display at the
Lavender Festival allows visitors to purchase rare varieties of
this beloved plant.”
For the 2010 Festival, Mihalzo presented an educational
presentation entitled “Growing Lavender in East Tennessee.”
In her talk, she discussed how to harvest and use lavender and
also shared recipes for foods and aromatherapy products.
Other presentations during the 2010 festival included
“Dill, Herb of the Year 2010”; “Tea — More than Just Pekoe”;
“Integrative Health Care: The Role of Naturopathic Medicine
in Primary Care”; and “Yoga: Healing, Transformation, and
Health Demonstration.”

www.oakridgechamber.org 9

Health Notes

Healthy Body,
Healthy Mind
School Fitness Programs

I

n every Oak Ridge elementary school,
students are exercising not just their
minds, but their bodies as well. Oak
Ridge Schools have always had a strong
physical education program, but several new
initiatives have been raising the bar for good
health in school, according to Blair King,
health coordinator for the schools.
At Woodland Elementary School, a new
morning fitness program began in September
2010 called “Mornings in Motion.” Held twice
each week, the kids do biometrics and body
weight training exercises designed especially
for them.
The program attracted so many children
the gym couldn’t hold them all, said

10 RIDGES | Summer ’11

By Rebecca D. Williams

Assistant Principal Mark Garrison. “We have
a long waiting list,” he said. “We’re going to
evaluate it mid-year to see if we can open it
up to more children.”
At Jefferson Middle School, physical
education classes received a gift in 2010 of a
classroom set of Wii Active Practice Boards
and the Wii Fit Plus program, paid for by the
school’s parent–teacher organization and
a gift from Methodist Medical Center.
The boards enable an entire gym class at
once to play the popular Wii active video
games, which include hundreds of fitness
programs such as yoga moves, aerobics,
jogging, and core training.

“They are the first school in Tennessee
to have this system,” said King. “The kids
love it so much there are no discipline
problems. It really frees the teacher up to
help students who might need more help
with the moves.”
Robertsville Middle School has an
outdoor fitness station, while the district’s
other elementary schools, Willow Brook,
Glenwood, and Linden, already have
morning exercise programs. Willow Brook
has a free morning aerobics class several
times each week.
In the Spring of 2011, Willow Brook
Elementary was identified as a finalist and
subsequently was named the winner of
the U.S Department of Health and Human
Services Healthy Living Innovation Award.
“I watched them at Willow Brook
Elementary the other day,” said King. “The
kids left focused and awake. The leaders
were really making it fun for the kids.”
In addition to new exercise programs,
Oak Ridge Schools participates in the
Knoxville Area Coalition on Childhood
Obesity, led by East Tennessee Children’s
Hospital. The coalition is trying to reverse
the trend of childhood obesity through
community programs, advocacy, and
initiatives.
“In the past, we taught kids to be fit
with basketball, football, or soccer,” said
King, “But now we show them that you
can find something you like and move
toward a lifetime of fitness activity.”

ak Ridge native Brandon S. Cottrell,
M.D., has returned to the area
to practice medicine. Methodist
Medical Center of Oak Ridge has welcomed
Dr. Cottrell to the staff. Specializing in
urology, Dr. Cottrell is a graduate of Oak
Ridge High School, attended the University
of Tennessee’s College of Medicine in
Memphis, and completed his residency
in urology at the University of Arkansas
Medical Sciences in Little Rock Arkansas.
Dr. Cottrell and his wife, Amy Cottrell,
M.D., are happy to be raising their two
daughters, Madi and Caroline, in the same
home town where Cottrell grew up.
“Practicing here is coming home,” he said.
“I chose to practice in this area because it’s
home, and it’s a great place to raise a family.”
Dr. Cottrell is a wonderful addition to
an already fantastic medical facility. His
special training with robotically assisted
prostate surgery is already helping
patients, and he is an active community
lecturer on urology-related topics.
Methodist Medical Center has been
named Tennessee’s top hospital in quality
performance by “Health Insight” and has
diligently served the community of Oak
Ridge for over 60 years. MMC recently
completed the initial phase of its first
major building campaign in 20 years: a
$47 million renovation and expansion
project designed to enhance patient service
and convenience.
www.oakridgechamber.org 11

Innovation

Rapid Research
New Supercomputer Joining Kraken and Jaguar in Oak Ridge
By David Ballard

T

he National Oceanic and Atmospheric
Administration (NOAA) has big news — literally.
On October 1, 2010, the High Performance
Computing staff of the National Center for Computational
Sciences (NCCS) welcomed the newest supercomputer
at the Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL), after the
installation of phase one of a 40-cabinet configuration. The
machine is the result of a collaborative agreement between
NOAA and the Department of Energy.
According to James H.
Rogers, director of operations
Upon completion,
for NCCS, the specs for
the yet-to-be-named
NOAA’s new supercomputer
supercomputer will be
are astounding: It is the next
capable of performing
generation of the Cray XT/
XE series of supercomputers,
more than 1 million
which upon initial installation
billion calculations in a
will include a 264TF (teraFLOP)
second (a petaflop).
XE6, which is 50 times more
powerful than any existing
NOAA resource. Upon completion, the yet-to-be-named
supercomputer will be capable of performing more than
1 million billion calculations in a second (a petaflop). This
super-fast computational capability will enable NOAA to
better model components of climate change.
“Prior to the availability of this new system, NOAA’s
computer resources limited it to a typical grid increment
of 200 km for the atmosphere and 100 km for the ocean
model,” said Rogers. “With this new Cray XE6, we expect
NOAA scientists will quickly transition to a much higher
resolution 50 km atmosphere and 25 km ocean model.”
Rogers says future upgrades to the NOAA supercomputer
will improve performance even more, to a resolution of 25 km
atmosphere and 10 km ocean model with improved and much
more computationally complex physics.
The bottom line? This better modeling equates to
more accurate scientific results and the opportunity for
improved practical application.

}

Technology 2020

E

By Jay Nehrkorn

stablished in 1993 as a public–private
partnership, Technology 2020 is an
economic development corporation that
acts as a catalyst for the creation and success
of knowledge-based enterprises. Located in
Oak Ridge, it brings new technologies from
laboratories and universities together with
entrepreneurs, capital, and expertise to grow
the number of high-tech businesses and
12 RIDGES | Summer ’11

After its upgrade this summer, this system will join the
two existing petascale systems, Jaguar and Kraken, as the
third petascale system at the facility.
The addition of another supercomputer means more
research time for scientists. The user communities for
these systems apply for CPU time on Kraken and Jaguar
from all over the world, and even though these systems are
delivering more than a billion compute hours for science
each year, demand for time continues to far outweigh
supply. Fortunately, the NOAA computer will deliver a very
timely contribution to this demand, offering a system that
is specifically designed and managed to support climate
researchers and that will deliver hundreds of millions of
compute hours in its first year of production.
Barbara Penland, deputy director of communications and
external relations for ORNL, says that is a welcome change.
“Having the NOAA computer means more new
scientists and time for performing research.”
While all three systems contain many similar
architectural features, the new computer differs from its
larger brothers, Jaguar and Kraken, in one significant
aspect. Both Jaguar and Kraken are based on a 6-core
AMD Opteron processor. The NOAA system will initially
be based on a 12-core AMD Opteron processor code
named Magny-Cours, with a proposed upgrade to a 1.1PF
system in 2011 and a final upgrade to a new 16-core AMD
Opteron with the code name Interlagos.
The new supercomputer offers other benefits as well.
Rogers says the power and cooling costs for the NOAA
XE6 system are about half that of a similarly sized XT5
system, making it more cost-effective and environmentally
friendly. And the XE6 footprint, comprised of just two
rows of 20 cabinets each, is less than half than that of the
Kraken system, too, which encompasses 88 cabinets in a
4x22 configuration. So the new system will take up much
less space.
More for less: That’s big news, too.

Partnership boosts knowledge-based
businesses in Oak Ridge

well-paying jobs in the Innovation Valley and
Tennessee Valley Corridor.
Technology 2020’s mission includes
increasing the number of licensed technology
transfers from the area’s many research
facilities to the private sector and helping
to transition laboratory discoveries into
practical applications that benefit people’s
lives. These innovations are coupled with

entrepreneurs and capital, which drives the
development of new ventures. Technology
2020’s Center for Entrepreneurial Growth
then makes incubator space available to these
startup companies and offers developmental
programs to help them grow and reach longterm stability.

Voices
“We wante
d to live in
because th
Oak Ridge
is was whe
re the Lord
wanted us
to be. The
communit
and our ch
y
urch, Oak
Valley Bap
embraced
ti
st,
us with a fe
eling of “W
have you b
here
een, we ha
ve been w
for you!” T
aiting
hat feeling
was an aw
testimony
esome
to us that
we were in
heading in
d
eed
the
right direc
tion.

riginally from the Fort Wayne, Ind., area, Clark and Monica Eckert met during their
undergraduate studies at Indiana University. The couple married in 2006 and moved
to Iowa, where Monica worked while Clark completed chiropractic school. Upon his
graduation in February 2010, they immediately packed up and
came to Oak Ridge to open Eckert Chiropractic Center.
“After spending some cold winters in Indiana and Iowa, we
wanted to go somewhere a little warmer, but we didn’t want to
go too far south because we wanted to be somewhat close to
Indiana,” Clark explained. “We looked up about eight cities with
really good demographics for chiropractors, and Oak Ridge was
one of them. It was actually the first one we came to and we
decided to go with it because we liked it so much. We didn’t even go visit the other cities.”
Another reason they chose Oak Ridge is their love of the outdoors, although the demands of
starting a new business haven’t allowed them much time to play outside just yet. Since opening
their practice in June 2010, the Eckerts have been surprised by both how fast the business took
off and the interest that their many patients have taken
in them.
“Oak Ridge was actually
“I used to try to make it a point to only talk about the
the first one we came to
patient and make the visit all about them, but while I was
trying to do that, they wanted to know everything about
and we decided to go with
me,” Clark said. “So I’ve answered a lot of questions like,
it because we liked it so
‘Why did you choose Oak Ridge?’”
much. We didn’t even go
The couple is now active in the lunchtime Rotary Club
visit the other cities.”
as well as Chamber of Commerce events, and they look
forward to continuing their work in the community.

}

Mitch Rouse
From Class Clown to
Celebrated Comedian

By Judy DiGregorio

W

hen I first heard former Oak Ridger
Mitch Rouse had joined the comedy
troupe “Second City” in Chicago, I
wasn’t surprised. Even in his junior high and
high school days, he could make you laugh
just by looking at his expressive face. Mitch
admits that he clowned around a lot in his
youth. And he still does — only now he earns
money doing it. A successful Hollywood actor,
writer, filmmaker, director, and producer,
Rouse is an inspiration to many.
One of his early successes included
Comedy Central’s first original half-hour
series, “Exit 57.” Rouse teamed up with
fellow Second City alum Stephen Colbert to
create and star in the show. It ran for two
seasons and received five Cable Ace Award
nominations, including Best Actor (Rouse)
and Best Writing for a comedy series.
Rouse has also appeared in several
movies, including “Rudy” and “Heartbreak
Kid,” and on numerous television shows
such as “According to Jim” and “The
Secret Lives of Men,” which Mitch also
wrote. During that show he met his future
wife, Andrea Bendewald, who was a guest
star. They now have two young children,
Tennessee and Strummer.
Rouse has also written and directed
several films, including “Without a Paddle”
and “Employee of the Month,” and he
recently sold his action film “Super Max” to
Sony Pictures.
Rouse says his first audience was his
parents, Dr. James and Marilyn Rouse,
and brother and sister, Scott and Ellen. His
audience today is considerably bigger, but
just as appreciative of his comic talents.
www.oakridgechamber.org 15

Uncommon Knowledge

Y-12 and Building 9731
K
The
Birthplace
Continuing
Innovation
By Jay
Nehrkornof
and
Ray Smith

nown as the “Pilot Plant,” Building 9731 was the first structure
completed at the Y-12 Electromagnetic Separation Plant of the
Manhattan Project. Constructed in less than two months and
completed in March 1943, it has been the home of numerous scientific
breakthroughs and continues to bear witness to Y-12’s dedication to
technological innovation.
Within Building 9731, the Manhattan Project’s first Calutron —
which utilized the world’s largest magnets to separate U-235 from natural
uranium — still remains. It was here that scientists refined Dr. Ernest
O. Lawrence’s separation process for application across the 1,152 other
Calutrons that would ultimately provide enriched uranium for Little
Boy, the first nuclear weapon ever used in warfare. The story is told that
during one of Lawrence’s visits he increased production in one of 9731’s
Calutrons significantly by cranking up heat and power, but according to
Dr. Chris Keim, just five minutes after Lawrence departed everything
inside the tank “blew up.”
The post-war innovations that took place in Building 9731 were just
as significant. It was Dr. Keim himself who put the original Calutrons
to work separating the isotopes of elements other than uranium. These
“stable” isotopes were then placed in a graphite reactor to make them
radioactive so they could be used for agricultural, industrial, and medical
research. In 1946, the Oak Ridge National Laboratory shipped the first
radio isotopes to the Bernard Free Skin and Cancer Hospital in St. Louis,

16 RIDGES | Summer ’11

Uncommon Knowledge

Mo., beginning a modern age of nuclear
medicine that saves countless lives today.
During the Cold War, Y-12 was called upon
yet again to provide technological advances for
its country, including more than just handling
and production of state-of-the-art nuclear
weapon components. Other innovations during
that time included new machining methods
such as the air bearing spindle and diamond
turning to make mirror-finished surfaces, with
measurement precision to 1/10,000th of an
inch. It was Y-12 that built the “Moon Box”
used by NASA’s Apollo Program to bring lunar
materials back to Earth without contaminating
them, and the facility was tasked with
creating the propulsor for the Navy’s Sea Wolf
submarines because no one else could produce it
with the precision required for silent running.
Today, Y-12 continues to be a world leader
in nuclear technology and serves as the security
warehouse for all of the nation’s highly enriched
uranium that is not in an active nuclear
weapon. Advances in techniques for handling
nuclear materials, as well as new solutions
in manufacturing technologies, technical
computing, and environmental stewardship,
continue thanks to Y-12’s contributions and
leadership. As evidence of forward progress,
more than 50 aging facilities are being replaced
by the Jack Case and New Hope centers, and
more growth is planned for the Uranium Center
of Excellence.
Meanwhile, Building 9731 remains as a
stalwart reminder how, from a world war to the
Cold War, and from nuclear medicine to moon
missions, Y-12 has always pushed the envelope
of technology. The public was allowed to tour
the building for the first time during the Secret
City Festival in June 2010, and nearly 1,400
people had the chance to marvel at the Alpha
Calutron magnets that started it all.

Star Power

Movie Robots Linked to Oak Ridge
By Jay Nehrkorn

Founded in 1980 by Oak Ridge engineers Howard Harvey
and John White, the robotics company Remotec has roots
going back to ORNL technology. Remotec began by providing
remote handling equipment for radiological materials within the local nuclear industry and has
expanded over the years to become a leader in the manufacture of hazardous duty robotics,
supplying robots for private industry, civilian agencies, and military use.
Still located in the Oak Ridge Technology Corridor in nearby Clinton, the company’s
creations now have ties to Hollywood as well. In 2005, developers at Pixar films chose to use
a Remotec Mini-Andros bomb-defusing robot as inspiration to create realistic movements for
the main character in their animated 2008 release “WALL-E.” More recently, their HD-1 robot
was featured in the Academy Award-winning movie “The Hurt Locker,” which follows an Army
bomb squad during their tour of duty in Iraq.
“It’s extremely gratifying to see our products used time and time again in film and
television,” said Remotec President Mike Knopp, “but even more so to know that those products
are saving lives around the world each and every day.”

www.oakridgechamber.org 17

Small Talk

An Early Start on Excellence
Chamber’s Youth Leadership Program Introduces
High School Students to Skills Needed for Success

T

he youth of Oak Ridge now have
a great way to learn about their
community and gain valuable
leadership skills in the process. The Youth
Leadership Oak Ridge program is an
exciting new way to help area high school
students become better leaders. The

mission is “to provide an overview of the
City of Oak Ridge and the East Tennessee
Region that shows a broad perspective
of the community and the leadership
challenges facing the local community,
while developing the leadership and
communications skills of participants.”
Oak Ridge has had a
Leadership Oak Ridge
program for adults for
nearly thirty years. “The
youth program is a project
of the Leadership Oak
Ridge Class of 2009,” said
Greta Ownby, Executive
Vice President of the
Oak Ridge Chamber of
Commerce. “The class
wanted to start a program
for high school students

}

“The main thing that
we’ve been really focusing
on is learning how to
develop leadership
skills in an excellent,
cultivating environment.”
18 RIDGES | Summer ’11

By Jennifer Bull

that was patterned after the program the
adults participate in, so the subjects are
very similar.”
In its first year, the program brought
together 19 students from Oak Ridge High
School (sophomores, juniors, and seniors)
for the experience. Interested students
must not only be in good academic
standing at their school, but must also
provide recommendations.
“In order to go through the
program the students had to have a
teacher recommendation, an adult
recommendation, and the parents had
to approve their participation in it.
There is a small fee of $50 per student,
but scholarships are available through
corporate funding,” Ownby said.
Bob Milazzo, who serves on the
board for the Youth Leadership Program

Small Talk
Advisory Committee, says organizers hope
the program gives the students a deeper
appreciation for, and a desire to make a
difference in, their community.
“The intent was to create a program
for the youth of the Oak Ridge area which
matches up to the leadership program
put on by the Chamber of Commerce …
learning about the community in which we
live and encouraging them to become more
involved and realize the benefits of living in
their community,” Milazzo said. “The main
thing that we’ve been really focusing on is
learning how to develop leadership skills
in an excellent, cultivating environment. I
think there are a lot of great programs in
our community that do a lot of great things
for the students of today, but leadership
skills is something we can all learn how to
do better.
“I know as I get up in age that I want the
leaders of today to be great leaders. Little
selfish on my part, right?” Milazzo added
with a smile.
Leading by example, the program’s
organizers are dedicated to giving back to
the community.
“I’ve got four kids and they are all out
of college, and this is the point in time,
for me and for those working with the
Oak Ridge Chamber group, that we really
wanted to do something for the youth in
the community,” Milazzo said.
The Advisory Committee is comprised
of representatives from the Leadership Oak

Ridge alumni, the Oak Ridge Chamber, and
Oak Ridge High School teachers and former
students. The participation of teens in the
committee is especially vital in creating a
program the student participants will find
relevant and engaging.
“We were organizing the program and
we realized that we were organizing it
based on what we knew as adults,” Ownby
said. “What we know and what we are
comfortable with may not necessarily
be something that is going to keep the
attention of high school students. That
is when we reached out to two recently
graduated high school students to work
on the planning committee along with
the adults, to bring that more youthful
perspective to the organizing.”
With such forethought into the needs of
the students, as well as the support of an
engaged community, the program should be
around to teach the students of Oak Ridge
leadership skills for a long time.
Nineteen students graduated from the
program the first year and 20 students
have already applied to be a part of the
next class to start in August 2011.
The Youth Leadership Oak Ridge
program is tied to the school year, so it
starts in August and ends in May. Program
participants attend one Wednesday
afternoon a month for about three hours.
It is a small investment that is sure to pay
big dividends for the entire community.

www.oakridgechamber.org 19

Small Talk

A Chance

to Play
By Rebecca D. Williams

VIP Soccer Lets Those With Disabilities Get on the Field and Join in the Fun

L

ike many boys his age, Josh Frederick of 2009 through the city’s American Youth Soccer
Oak Ridge, 17, loves getting dressed in Organization, AYSO.
VIP Soccer is for any player age 4 or older who
his red soccer uniform and heading to the
has a disability. Teams are co-ed, meet weekly
field on Friday afternoons.
“He really enjoys playing soccer,” said his during the fall and spring seasons, and play in
mother, Maggie Frederick. “But I’m not quite both a practice and a scrimmage in a one-hour
sure he understands why everyone gets so session. Volunteer “buddies” without disabilities
hurried about getting the ball through the goal,” follow each player onto the field and help them
join in the fun.
she added with a laugh.
Josh has a congenital form of brain damage
that makes it difficult for him to communicate
On the sidelines, parents of
easily, and he is frequently distracted by action
children with disabilities have
on the sidelines. A typical soccer team would be
inaccessible to him, so Josh plays on Oak Ridge’s a chance to relax, get to know
Very Important Player (VIP) Team, formed in each other, and enjoy watching

}

their children enjoy sports in a
setting that includes them.

For his first year, Josh was paired with a
teenage girl his age.
“She just intrinsically ‘got’ Joshua, and he
responded very well to her,” said Frederick. “It
was really great to see him forge a relationship
with her on his own. I never thought my son
would play soccer, so it’s something wonderful
for me to see.”
On the sidelines, parents of children with
disabilities have a chance to relax, get to know
each other, and enjoy watching their children
enjoy sports in a setting that includes them.

“Meeting other parents has been great,” said
Frederick. “We’re all in the same boat. There is a
sense of camaraderie on and off the field.”
AYSO offers 50,000 non-competitive soccer
teams nationwide and dozens in the Oak Ridge
area. In the summer of 2012, a national AYSO
tournament will be held in Knoxville. VIP teams
will be a part of that, according to Anna McCoig
of Oak Ridge, who is helping to organize the
VIP portion of the 2012 National Tournament.
VIP players will serve as the grand marshals of
the Olympic-style opening ceremony, marching
around Regal Soccer Stadium at the University
of Tennessee. Some 15,000 players, coaches, and
families are expected to attend the tournament.
McCoig said any child with a disability, whether
they have a team or not, will be allowed to play
in the VIP national tournament. Children will
be assigned to a team if they don’t already have
one.
“It’s an incredible program,” said McCoig,
who has volunteered as a VIP buddy in Oak
Ridge. “For me, it’s remembering what it’s like
just to have fun playing soccer.”
For more information about VIP Soccer, call coach
Pat Ryan at 482-4230, or for information about
AYSO soccer in Oak Ridge, contact Pete Xiques
at 927-0320.

Crossing Guard Don Miller
A Strong Sense of Style — and Humor —
Make This Crossing Guard a Student Favorite

20 RIDGES | Summer ’11

“I like the job because it is fun to personalize the student interaction while
gaining the trust of motorists and pedestrians. It helps to know that my two
grandchildren benefit indirectly by my making the crossing guard activity in Oak
Ridge more respected and visible. I was flattered to be asked to help re-train all of
the city crossing guards recently.”